Orphan of the Wilderness

Chut is a kangaroo whose mother is killed by hunters. He wanders through the bush and eventually arrives at a homestead, where he is befriended by a farmer, Tom Henton. Years later, Tom puts Chut in a travelling circus run by Shorty McGee. Tom's girlfriend Margot performs in the circus and says she'll look after Chut.

McGee trains Chut as a boxing kangaroo and becomes famous around Australia. Neither Margot or Tom are aware that Shorty whips the kangaroo prior to bouts. One day Chut fights back against McGree and takes off into the bush, pursued by men with rifles and dogs. Tom and his station hands eventually ride to the rescue and Tom beats up McGee.

Chut settles down on Tom's property.

When Ken Hall returned from Hollywood in 1935, he announced that his first three films would be Thoroughbred, Big Timber and Robbery Under Arms.[2] Stuart F. Doyle wanted Hall to make a 50-minute short to support Thoroughbred similar to the way Cinesound Varieties was used to support The Silence of Dean Maitland (1934). Hall says Edmond Seward discovered the story in Cosmopolitan magazine and was attracted to its originality and setting.[3]

Eventually as scripting progressed, Hall decided to expand the story to feature length and add a romantic subplot.

Harry Abdy owned the kangaroo who played Chut in the movie. He had travelled in Australia and the US as a boxing kangaroo.[1]

Hall cast two newcomers in the leads, Brian Abbot and Gwen Munro.

Shooting took place in May and June 1936, on location at Burragorang Valley and Camden, and at Cinesound's studios in Bondi. J Alan Kenyon created a large bushland set inside the studio, 140 feet by 70 feet.[4]

Production was difficult due to the problems of dealing with animals, who were unused to studio lights and following direction, especially kangaroos. Shooting held up for several days due to an illness of Gwen Munro.[5] Harry Abdy was injured sparring with a kangaroo.[6] Some cast and crew were injured in a car accident on the way back from location.[7] Hall says he also had trouble with his actors:

When you're asked for a low-cost second or B feature, your inclination can be to approach it as a quickie. Mine was, initially, and that was a bad mistake. On this one we used too many raw people in the cast as a sort of break-in for them. This not only slowed us down in trying to get performances from inexperienced people, but that inexperience showed up in some of them in the finished picture. But not fatally. And certainly not in Gwen Munro...or Harry Abdy.[8]

Worried about accusations of cruelty to animals on Hollywood movies, Hall arranged for representatives from the RSPCA to supervise filming. He offered free admission to people to attend the circus sequences so he did not have to pay extras.[9]

After seeing the film, Doyle decided not to release it as a second feature but instead issue on its own at Christmas time. Reviews were generally positive.[10]

The film was not a massive success at the local box office, due in part to the fact many of the tickets were bought by children at concession prices. But it was popular and sold well overseas.[11][12]

• Hall, Ken G., Directed by Ken G. Hall, Lansdowne Press, 1977

• Orphan of the Wilderness in the Internet Movie Database
• Orphan of the Wilderness at Australian Screen Online
• Orphan of the Wilderness at Oz Movies
• Orphan of the Wilderness at National Film and Sound Archive
• Newspaper serialisation of original story – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9